Floor mat with damp-proof effect

ABSTRACT

A floor mat with a damp-proof effect includes a base and a mat portion. The base has a bottom plate, a blocking member, a female fastener, and a male fastener. The bottom plate has a top side and a bottom side. Plural supporting legs extend downward from the bottom side. The blocking member runs along the periphery of the bottom plate and extends upward of, and forms a receiving groove together with, the top side. The female fastener is provided on the periphery of the bottom plate and forms an opening. The male fastener is provided on the same periphery and extends downward of the bottom side. The height of the mat portion, which is detachably received in the receiving groove, is flush with or higher than the top edge of the blocking member. The floor mat will not easily get damp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to floor mats and more particularly to afloor mat with a damp-proof effect.

2. Description of Related Art

Floor mats are a common product for use in our daily lives. Please referto Taiwan Patent No. M532810, which provides a combinational matstructure having an anti-slip effect. The combinational mat is a foamedmaterial made of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene (PE), orcrosslinked polyethylene (XPE) and can be laid on the floor to provideanti-slip protection for those who have the soles of their feet incontact with the surface of the foamed material.

Please also refer to Taiwan Patent No. M559135, which provides aprolonged standing-type floor mat. This floor mat essentially includesan inner layer, a surface layer, and an anti-slip layer. The inner layermay be a polyurethane (PU)-based foamed material. The surface layer maybe a PU-based imitation leather mat portion. The anti-slip layer may bea neoprene-based foamed material. The floor mat can be laid on the floorto provide great comfort and a sole-soothing cushioning effect to thosewho would stand on the floor mat for a prolonged period of time.

In addition, please refer to Taiwan Patent No. M578604, which provides afloor mat for use on a sports field. This floor mat essentially includesa surface layer and a bottom layer. The surface layer has a bumpypattern on the surface. The bottom layer is fixedly provided on a bottomportion of the surface layer such that the two layers form a singleunit. Lattice-like intersecting ribs with rectangular spacestherebetween are distributed over the bottom side of the bottom layer toform lattice-like rectangular grooves. The floor mat for use on a sportsfield can be laid on the floor to produce a buffering andshock-absorbing effect while being durable.

It can be known from the above that whether in our daily lives, insports, or at work, there are certain demands for floor mats.Nevertheless, the aforesaid conventional floor mats tend to get dampafter prolonged contact with the floor. When used for a long time andmingled with the dirt in the environment, therefore, these floor matstend to produce an unpleasant odor or even have bacterial growth. Thus,the conventional floor mats still have inconveniences in use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a floor matthat has a damp-proof effect and therefore will not easily get damp, letalone produce an unpleasant odor or have bacterial growth, and that alsofeatures convenience of use.

To achieve the above objective, the floor mat with a damp-proof effectprovided by the present invention includes a base and a mat portion. Thebase has a bottom plate, a blocking member, at least one femalefastener, and at least one male fastener. The bottom plate has a topside and a bottom side, and a plurality of supporting legs extenddownward from the bottom side. The blocking member is provided along theperiphery of the bottom plate and extends upward of the top side. Theblocking member and the top side form a receiving groove. The at leastone female fastener is provided on the periphery of the bottom plate andforms an opening that extends outward and is accessible in an up-downdirection. The at least one male fastener is provided on the peripheryof the bottom plate and extends downward of the bottom side. The matportion is detachably provided in the receiving groove, and when the matportion is received in the receiving groove, the height of the matportion is flush with or higher than the top edge of the blockingmember.

Thus, the present invention provides a floor mat that has a damp-proofeffect, that will not easily get damp and hence is not prone to producean unpleasant odor or have bacterial growth, and that featuresconvenience of use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another exploded perspective view of the preferred embodimentin FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the base of the preferred embodiment in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a state of use of the preferred embodiment in FIG. 1,illustrating how a plurality of floor mats are put together.

FIG. 7 shows another state of use of the preferred embodiment in FIG. 1,illustrating a plurality of floor mats that have been put together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To demonstrate the technical features of the present invention indetail, a preferred embodiment is presented below and described withreference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, a floor mat 10 with a damp-proof effectaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is composedessentially of a base 20 and a mat portion 30.

The base 20 has a bottom plate 21, a blocking member 23, a plurality offemale fasteners 25, and a plurality of male fasteners 27. The bottomplate 21 has a top side 212 and a bottom side 214. A plurality ofsupporting legs 216 extend downward from the bottom side 214. Thesupporting legs 216 are configured to stand on a predetermined object(not shown), and in this preferred embodiment the predetermined objectis the floor by way of example such that the bottom plate 21 is spacedapart from the floor by a predetermined distance. The blocking member 23is provided along the periphery of the bottom plate 21 and extendsupward of the top side 212. The blocking member 23 and the top side 212form a receiving groove 218 for receiving the mat portion 30. Theplurality of female fasteners 25 are provided on the periphery of thebottom plate 21 and each form an opening 251 that extends outward andcan be accessed in an up-down direction. The plurality of male fasteners27 are provided on the periphery of the bottom plate 21 and extenddownward of the bottom side 214. Each of the plurality of femalefasteners 25 is configured to be fastened to one of the plurality ofmale fasteners 27 of another floor mat 10 so that a plurality of floormats 10 can be connected together. In other preferred embodiments, thepredetermined object may alternatively be a wall or other objects onwhich the supporting legs 216 can stand; therefore, the predeterminedobject is not limited to the floor in this preferred embodiment.Moreover, this preferred embodiment may include only one female fastener25 and only one male fastener 27 but still allows a plurality of floormats 10 to be connected together; hence, the number of the femalefasteners 25 and the number of the male fasteners 27 are not limited tothose shown in the preferred embodiment illustrated herein.

In this preferred embodiment, the bottom plate 21 is quadrilateral, theplurality of male fasteners 27 are arranged at equal intervals along theperiphery of the bottom plate 21, and the plurality of female fasteners25 are located on two adjacent sides of the bottom plate 21 and areconnected to some of the plurality of male fasteners 27. In otherpreferred embodiments, the plurality of female fasteners 25 may belocated on two opposite sides of the bottom plate 21 instead, and thebottom plate 21 may be adjusted to other geometric shapes as needed;therefore, the plurality of female fasteners 25 and the bottom plate 21are not necessarily implemented in the same ways as in the preferredembodiment illustrated herein.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the mat portion 30 is provided in thereceiving groove 218 in a detachable manner. When the mat portion 30 isreceived in the receiving groove 218, the height of the mat portion 30is higher than the top edge of the blocking member 23. In this preferredembodiment, the mat portion 30 has a plurality of solidifiedpolyethylene (PE) particles 31 on one side (see FIG. 2), and theparticle sizes of the plurality of solidified PE particles 31 range from1 mm to 15 mm to increase friction on the mat portion 30 and to providewear resistance and an anti-slip effect. The other side (hereinafterreferred to as the second side) of the mat portion 30 has a plurality ofprotuberances 33 (see FIG. 3). The plurality of protuberances 33 haveirregular shapes and are arranged in an irregular manner. The widths ofthe plurality of protuberances 33 range from 6 mm to 20 mm in order forthe second side of the mat portion 30 to simulate a stone-like patternand provide users with a special visual effect. As the mat portion 30 inthe present invention is provided in the receiving groove 218 in adetachable manner, a user may choose to place the mat portion 30 witheither the PE particle 31-side or the protuberance 33-side facing upwardof the receiving groove 218. In other preferred embodiments, the heightof the mat portion 30 may be flush with the top edge of the blockingmember 23 instead, and the mat portion 30 may be implemented with anyother material that can provide the desired support; therefore, theheight and composition of the mat portion 30 are not limited to those inthe preferred embodiment illustrated herein.

In this preferred embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, theplurality of supporting legs 216 are arranged in a matrix to enable evendistribution of pressure. The bottom plate 21 is formed with a pluralityof ventilation structures 22, and each ventilation structure 22 has twosupporting ribs 221 to increase the supporting strength of the presentinvention. In each ventilation structure 22, the two supporting ribs 221are each connected to two supporting legs 216 and intersect each otherto form a plurality of hollow portions 223 that help prevent the matportion 30 from getting damp after prolonged contact with the bottomplate 21. In other preferred embodiments, the plurality of supportinglegs 216 may be arranged in a different distributed manner or anirregular manner, so the arrangement of the plurality of supporting legs216 is not limited to that in the preferred embodiment illustratedherein. Besides, other preferred embodiments may dispense with theventilation structures 22 if it is not necessary to increase thesupporting strength and if damp between the mat portion 30 and thebottom plate 21 is unlikely to take place; hence, the ventilationstructures 22 are not essential to implementing the invention.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the blockingmember 23 is perpendicular to the top side 212 to produce aposition-limiting effect on the mat portion 30, to provide bettersupport, and when a plurality of floor mats 10 are connected together,to minimize the gaps between the mat portions 30, thereby increasing thecomfort of use and preventing accumulation of grime. The plurality ofmale fasteners 27 are perpendicular to the bottom side 214 so that whena plurality of floor mats 10 are connected together, the male fasteners27 can also provide better support and minimize the gaps between the matportions 30 so as to increase the comfort of use and preventaccumulation of grime. In other preferred embodiments, the blockingmember 23 need not be perpendicular to the top side 212, and theplurality of male fasteners 27 need not be perpendicular to the bottomside 214, if the gaps between the mat portions 30 will not compromisethe comfort of use, if there is already sufficient supporting strength,and if accumulation of grime is unlikely to occur; therefore, theblocking member 23 and the plurality of male fasteners 27 are notlimited to those in the preferred embodiment illustrated herein.

In this preferred embodiment, each female fastener 25 further has twostop walls 253, wherein the two stop walls 253 extend outward from theblocking member 23 and are connected respectively to two opposite sidesof the opening 251 of the female fastener 25. When each female fastener25 is fastened to a corresponding male fastener 27 of another floor mat10, the two stop walls 253 of each female fastener 25 can effectivelyconfine the corresponding male fastener 27, thereby effectivelyincreasing the stability of the plurality of floor mats 10 connectedtogether, preventing the floor mats 10 from horizontal movement withrespect to one another. In other preferred embodiments, if there is noneed to increase the stability of a plurality of floor mats 10 connectedtogether, the openings 251 alone suffice to prevent the plurality offloor mats 10 from being horizontally moved with respect to one another;therefore, the two stop walls 253 of each female fastener 25 are notessential to implementing the present invention.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the plurality ofsupporting ribs 221 are shaped as hollow tubes, and each of theplurality of supporting legs 216 has a large-diameter section 217 and asmall-diameter section 219, wherein the large-diameter section 217 isadjacent to the bottom plate 21 while the small-diameter section 219 islocated away from the bottom plate 21. Some of the plurality ofsupporting legs 216 are filled with an anti-slip material 22, and thanksto the width difference between the large-diameter section 217 and thesmall-diameter section 219 of those supporting legs 216, the anti-slipmaterial 22 is confined in those supporting legs 216. The anti-slipmaterial 22 is a thermoplastic elastomer by way of example. Theanti-slip material 22 protrudes from the lower ends of those supportinglegs 216 to increase friction between the present invention and thefloor so that the invention will not easily move with respect to thefloor. In other preferred embodiments, the anti-slip material 22 may bea plastic material with a rough surface or any other material that canincrease friction, and the anti-slip material 22 may be flush with thelower ends of those supporting legs 216 but still capable of providingincreased friction; therefore, the anti-slip material 22 is notnecessarily implemented in the same way as in the preferred embodimentillustrated herein. Besides, other preferred embodiments may dispensewith the anti-slip material 22 if there is no need to increase thefriction between the invention and the floor; hence, the anti-slipmaterial 22 is not essential to implementing the invention.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, the lower ends ofthe plurality of supporting legs 216 and the lower ends of the pluralityof male fasteners 27 are located on the same virtual plane S (see FIG.5); thus, in addition to being fastenable to the female fasteners 25 ofother floor mats 10, the plurality of male fasteners 27 provide asupporting effect. In other preferred embodiments, it is feasible forthe lower ends of the plurality of male fasteners 27 to not reach as faras the virtual plane S if there is no need for an enhanced supportingeffect; therefore, the technical feature of the lower ends of theplurality of supporting legs 216 being on the same virtual plane S asthe lower ends of the plurality of male fasteners 27 is not essential toimplementing the present invention.

The foregoing paragraphs have described the structure of a preferredembodiment of the present invention. The following paragraphs will go onto describe some states of use of the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

To use a single unit of the present invention, referring to FIG. 1 toFIG. 5, the base 20 is put on the floor, and the mat portion 30 isplaced in the receiving groove 218 such that the height of the matportion 30 is higher than the top edge of the blocking member 23. Withthe plurality of supporting legs 216 and the plurality of male fasteners27 standing on the floor, the bottom plate 21 is spaced apart from thefloor by the predetermined distance stated above, and in consequence themat portion 30 is in contact with the top side 212 rather than in directcontact with the floor and is thus effectively kept from getting damp asmay otherwise result from prolonged contact with the floor. In addition,pressure is allowed to be evenly distributed due to the fact that theplurality of supporting legs 216 are arranged in a matrix and that theplurality of male fasteners 27 are arranged at equal intervals. Theplurality of hollow portions 223 formed in the bottom plate 21 helpprevent damp between the mat portion 30 and the bottom plate 21 afterlong-term contact therebetween. Since the height of the mat portion 30is higher than the top edge of the blocking member 23, a user will notcontact the blocking member 23 and is therefore spared the discomfort ofsuch contact. Furthermore, the detachability of the mat portion 30 fromthe receiving groove 218 allows a user to choose and use other types ofmat portions.

To connect multiple units of the present invention together, referringto FIG. 4, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7, the plurality of male fasteners 27 on oneside of a floor mat 10 are fastened to the plurality of female fasteners25 on one side of another floor mat 10 in a downward direction tocomplete the connection between the two floor mats 10. The invention,therefore, features great convenience of use. As each female fastener 25has two stop walls 253, each male fastener 27 fastened to a femalefastener 25 is effectively confined by the two stop walls 253 of thefemale fastener 25 to increase the stability of the plurality ofconnected floor mats 10, preventing the floor mats 10 from beinghorizontally moved with respect to each other.

According to the above, the floor mat with a damp-proof effect providedby the present invention has the technical feature that the plurality ofsupporting legs (and optionally the plurality of male fasteners) standon the floor. This allows the mat portion to contact the top sidewithout direct contact with the floor, so the mat portion is effectivelykept from getting damp, producing an unpleasant odor, and havingbacterial growth as may otherwise result from prolonged contact with thefloor and hence features convenience of use.

Also, the floor mat with a damp-proof effect provided by the presentinvention has the plurality of female fasteners 25 and the plurality ofmale fasteners 27 as one of its technical features so that a pluralityof floor mats can be connected together with ease.

Moreover, the floor mat with a damp-proof effect provided by the presentinvention has the technical feature that the plurality of supportinglegs are arranged in a matrix and that the plurality of male fastenersare arranged at equal intervals. This enables even distribution ofpressure.

Further, the floor mat with a damp-proof effect provided by the presentinvention has the technical feature that the bottom plate is formed withthe plurality of hollow portions 223. This prevents the mat portion fromgetting damp after long-term contact with the bottom plate.

In addition, the floor mat with a damp-proof effect provided by thepresent invention has the technical feature that the mat portion can bedetached from the receiving groove. This allows a user to choose and useother types of mat portions as needed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A floor mat with a damp-proof effect, comprising:a base having a bottom plate, a blocking member, at least one femalefastener, and at least one male fastener, wherein the bottom plate has atop side and a bottom side, a plurality of supporting legs extenddownward from the bottom side, the blocking member is provided along aperiphery of the bottom plate and extends upward of the top side, theblocking member and the top side form a receiving groove, the at leastone female fastener is provided on the periphery of the bottom plate andforms an opening that extends outward and is accessible in an up-downdirection, and the at least one male fastener is provided on theperiphery of the bottom plate and extends downward of the bottom side;and a mat portion detachably provided in the receiving groove, whereinwhen the mat portion is received in the receiving groove, a height ofthe mat portion is flush with or higher than a top edge of the blockingmember.
 2. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim1, wherein the plurality of supporting legs are arranged in a matrix. 3.The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe bottom plate is formed with a plurality of ventilation structures,each said ventilation structure has two supporting ribs, and the twosupporting ribs of each said ventilation structure are each connected totwo said supporting legs and intersect each other to form a plurality ofhollow portions.
 4. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimedin claim 1, wherein the blocking member is perpendicular to the topside, and the at least one male fastener is perpendicular to the bottomside.
 5. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim 1,wherein the at least one female fastener further has two stop walls, andthe two stop walls extend outward from the blocking member and areconnected respectively to two opposite sides of the opening.
 6. Thefloor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim 1, wherein theplurality of supporting legs are shaped as hollow tubes, and each of theplurality of supporting legs has a large-diameter section adjacent tothe bottom plate and a small-diameter section located away from thebottom plate, some of the plurality of supporting legs are filled withan anti-slip material, and the anti-slip material is flush with orprotrudes beyond lower ends of said some of the plurality of supportinglegs.
 7. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim 1,wherein lower ends of the plurality of supporting legs and a lower endof the at least one male fastener are located on a same virtual plane.8. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed in claim 1,wherein the bottom plate is quadrilateral, there are a plurality of saidmale fasteners and a plurality of said female fasteners, the pluralityof male fasteners are arranged at equal intervals along the periphery ofthe bottom plate, and the plurality of female fasteners are located ontwo adjacent sides of the bottom plate and are connected to some of theplurality of male fasteners.
 9. The floor mat with the damp-proof effectas claimed in claim 1, wherein the mat portion has a side with aplurality of solidified polyethylene particles, and the plurality ofsolidified polyethylene particles have particle sizes ranging from 1 mmto 15 mm.
 10. The floor mat with the damp-proof effect as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the mat portion has a side with a plurality ofprotuberances, the plurality of protuberances are of irregular shapesand are irregularly arranged, and the plurality of protuberances havewidths ranging from 6 mm to 20 mm.